


The Wandering Star

by Adastraea



Category: Warriors - Erin Hunter
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Expanded lore, RiverClan (Warriors), ShadowClan (Warriors), StarClan (Warriors), The Lake Territories, ThunderClan (Warriors), WindClan (Warriors), canon books never occurred
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-12-17
Updated: 2018-12-27
Packaged: 2019-09-20 22:06:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,192
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17030850
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Adastraea/pseuds/Adastraea
Summary: Eventually, each Clan would have their own story for her, and with each new story came a new name. They called her Deadheart, Loststep, Spliteye, Missingface. They all knew her by the same epithet: The Wandering Star. This is who she was before her story fell to myth.[A work which expands and adds to the lore in the Warrior's Universe, centering on death and what happens when the Moonpool freezes over.]





	1. The Day Of

It was cold, colder than she’d ever been. Sootpaw shivered, drawing herself into a tight ball as she curled closer to her sleeping companion. She cracked a single amber eye open. The abandoned rabbit warren they’d sheltered in was dark, its sloping dirt walls opening up to a dark sky blanketed in thick grey clouds. Flecks of white- snowflakes, the apprentice realized sleepily- drifted across the sky, like stars in their own right. Her nose twitched as they landed on her face and melted on her fur.

A haze clouded her mind, and she buried her face into Ivypaw’s shoulder. Her skin stung as the freezing air cut through her short pelt. Part of her knew she should move, clear the snow from the edges of the den- but she was tired, so tired, and she could not will her stiff limbs to move.  

“’Night, Ivypaw,” she mumbled into her friend’s fur, as the world around her faded to black.

*     *     *

The first thing Sootpaw noticed when she awoke at last was that she wasn’t cold anymore. The second was how _white_ the world was. The moors were covered; the familiar landmarks buried in indistinct mounds of snow. Even the sky was pale and bright, the sun barely visible through the clouds. She’d never seen so much snow in her eleven moons of life- it must have fallen all night, and well into the morning.

 “Sootpaw?” Ivypaw’s familiar mew broke into her thoughts, a welcome distraction from the foreign-looking land that was WindClan territory.

The apprentice sat upright and turned to her companion, pressing her nose to her cheek in greeting. “It looks like a blizzard happened last night.”

“No, Sootpaw- look.” There was something so solemn in her quiet voice; a pit formed in the bottom of Sootpaw’s stomach as she twisted to look over her shoulder.

There, in the center of camp, surrounded by the Clan elders, two bodies lay in the snow. One had a pelt of solid black, the other white with black patches. They were covered in dried lavender- a burial herb, Sootpaw realized, to mask the scent of death. The paw steps of their Clanmates were recorded in the snow, showing how they ran through the camp to alert the others, how they dragged the bodies from their resting place so the others could mourn.

Sootpaw’s gaze followed the trail where it carved through the snow, right up to where they began at her feet.

That was them. That was her and Ivypaw, laying in the middle of camp to be buried by the elders.

Her heart stopped for a painful second. She stood abruptly, parted her mouth as if to shout at her Clanmates, to tell them they’d made a mistake, that they were right here, and how could they not see that? But no sound came out. She could only stand and watch in stark silence as the elders started clearing a space in the burial grounds on the edge of camp, the sounds of digging muffled.

A choking sound made her turn. Ivypaw sat frozen, tears welling up in her green eyes. Her chest convulsed as she held back another sob. Sootpaw’s initial shock faded into concern for her friend.

“Ivypaw-”

The other she-cat squeezed her eyes shut. Sootpaw tried to find the right words to comfort her friend, but nothing came to mind. All she could think of was how they’d never have their warrior ceremonies, how they’d never get to share tongues with their Clanmates again, how devastated their families must be.

Ivypaw stood and, without so much as a word, bolted from the camp. Sootpaw’s eyes widened. She cast one last look over her shoulder, at the Clan gathering as the bodies were pulled into the hole that would be their final resting place. She caught a glimpse of her mother, Cinderflower, wailing into Paleleaf’s fur.

Choosing between a mourning Clan that could not see her and Ivypaw was no choice at all.

She ran after the apprentice, keeping her patched pelt in view, noticing in the back of her mind that neither of them left prints in the snow. She ran until her lungs burned and ached and protested, and still she pushed herself harder, until Ivypaw started to slow at last up ahead. She ran until she reached her, practically tackled her, and pulled her close as they tumbled noiselessly through the snow.

Sootpaw rested her chin on Ivypaw’s head as the younger she-cat cried into her chest. She may not have known what to say, but she knew that she would always be there for Ivypaw, even if it was all she could do to hold onto her.  Eventually her sobs slowed as she cried herself out, and Sootpaw did her best to purr and groom the top of her head until she found her voice.

Ivypaw sniffled as she spoke. “I just- I always thought- don’t we go to StarClan? When we…?” She trailed off, turning away from Sootpaw. “What if… if we didn’t… if we weren’t…”

Sootpaw knew exactly where Ivypaw was going with this train of thought, and more importantly, she knew she was wrong. She padded forward a step, pressing her shoulder firmly against the apprentice’s pelt.

“Ivypaw, if anyone deserves to go to StarClan, it’s _you_.” She leaned against the she-cat to emphasize how much she meant it. “You are the kindest, most-selfless cat in all of WindClan. I know the thought of breaking the warrior code makes you sick to your stomach. I know how much you love to watch the stars as you fall asleep.” A past-time they would never share again.

Sootpaw pressed on. “Something else must be going on.” What that might have been she couldn’t say, but the statement made Ivypaw meet her gaze once more. “…And I bet we can find out.” She nodded to a long ditch that stretched under the snow, just a few foxlengths from them. “That’s the stream from the Moonpool. We can follow it all the way there- I bet StarClan would be able to help us.”

Now that they had a plan, Ivypaw seemed to calm down some. Sootpaw watched as her gaze followed the snow-buried stream to the point where it disappeared at the horizon.

“Do you think they will listen to us?”

“Of course,” Sootpaw said, though doubt sank its claws into her stomach even as she said it. If StarClan could have done something- anything- wouldn’t they have done it already? Weren’t their warrior ancestors looking out for them, too? Or had they forgotten them- two ordinary apprentices, not worthy of their time? “We just have to follow the stream bed. It’ll lead us right to the Moonpool. From there, we can ask them.”

The two set out, Sootpaw leading the way by half a tail length, Ivypaw keeping pace while staring at her own paws. The path was vaguely familiar; Sootpaw had accompanied her mentor Oatfur to the Moonpool once to guard the entrance while Murkstar consulted with StarClan. Her heart ached at the memory, but she resisted the urge to look back across the frozen moors. She had to keep moving forward and solve the problem at hand- if not for her sake, then for Ivypaw’s. There would be time to mourn later.  

The ground underfoot pitched upwards, and Sootpaw knew they were getting close. She picked up the pace, urging her companion along with a flick of her feathery tail. The slopes grew rocky, and her green eyes scanned the rock faces until she saw the sheer, half-frozen face of the cliff that hung over the entrance. “There,” she said, glancing over her shoulder at Ivypaw. “Nearly there. We’ll get our answers.”

She’d never approached the Moonpool herself, but the path was obvious, as the cliff had sheltered most of the area from the snow drifts. They padded cautiously across the stone trail, smooth with the paw steps of all the cats that visited before them. The air carried the weight of a thousand stares, as if their ancestors were looking down upon them that very moment.

The problem was obvious as soon as they reached the last rock that lay flat along the pool. A thick sheet of ice covered the Moonpool; from a split in the cliff face, long icicles jutted out like mangled fangs. Sootpaw felt her heart sink into her stomach. This must have been why they were stranded. It could be days- no, moons- until it was warm enough to melt the ice.

Ivypaw padded forward, and she watched as the patch-pelted apprentice leaned forward over the frozen pool. “Sootpaw, look. They’re there,” she whispered, her voice carrying easily along the stone walls. Sootpaw obliged, peering deeper into the depths of the ice. Sure enough, shadows that were not their own flickered back and forth in the depths. The longer they stared, the more one form grew distinct- a pretty blue-grey she-cat, gazing longingly back at them from beyond.

“That’s… Junipernose,” Ivypaw breathed. “That’s my mother.”

Sootpaw nodded numbly beside her. She remembered the deaf queen well; her passing a season ago rocked the Clan. Most of the apprentices and some of the younger warriors had practically been raised by her, and even after she had her own litter of kits, she’d tend to the others as well. Her green eyes mirrored Ivypaw’s so perfectly; it was easy to see where Ivypaw got her expressive features from.   

Ivypaw crouched as the leaned forward, staring at the reflection of her mother. Sootpaw watched intently as she lowered her face, hovering just over the surface for a heartbeat as if she could feel the heat radiating off Junipernose’s fur or smell her familiar scent. She pressed her nose to the ice.

There was an ethereal glow to her pelt as Ivypaw seemed to press further into the ice until she disappeared entirely. “Ivypaw!” Sootpaw’s cry echoed off of the rocky faces as she leapt forward, careful to not touch the ice. “Ivypaw, oh StarClan, tell me you’re alright…”

The shadows seemed to swirl under the water, and she was greeted by the brief image of Junipernose nuzzling Ivypaw tightly, before the apprentice gazed upward out of the ice. Sootpaw breathed a sigh of relief. “Oh, thank goodness.” Fresh stars dusted her friend’s pelt, and she swallowed thickly as the reality hit her. Ivypaw was really dead. _She_ was really dead.

But Ivypaw was smiling again, and the familiar warmth had returned to her eyes as she tilted her head. Sootpaw knew what she had to do. All she had to do was lean forward, touch her nose to the ice- to Ivypaw’s nose, just as she’d done a hundred times before. And they would be together again.

But a single thought kept her rooted to the spot. Beneath the frozen depths, Ivypaw’s whiskers twitched curiously- and a pang surged through Sootpaw’s heart. That was what she loved most about Ivypaw, how they didn’t need words to communicate- they could often guess at what the other was thinking. And the single thought running through Sootpaw’s mind in that moment: what if they weren’t the only ones stuck out here? What if there were others, as lost and confused and heartbroken as they’d been?

She took a single step back from the pool, her head hanging. She couldn’t join Ivypaw, as much as she wanted to- not yet. She almost couldn’t meet her friend’s eyes, half-expecting to see the hurt and betrayal plain on her face. But when she looked at last, Ivypaw blinked slowly at her, before dipping her head. This time, it was Sootpaw’s turn to blink back tears.

“I knew you’d understand. Keep an eye out for me up there, alright?”

Ivypaw nodded, her form disappearing into the depths with the others- and at last, the shadows trapped under the ice were still. There was no one to hear Sootpaw’s wracking wails or witness her tears as they pelted the surface of the Moonpool.


	2. One Day After

It was a long time before Sootpaw could bring herself to leave the frozen Moonpool, even without Ivypaw’s starry reflection dancing across its surface. Her face stung with grief as she followed the buried stream down the rocky cliff. The expanse of the moors, normally so inviting with its wide-open skies and gently swaying grasses, offered none of the comforts of home. Instead, a frigid blast whipped across the snow drifts and carried with it shards of ice and snowflakes, pelting anything in its path.

Though her fur pressed flat to her side with every gust of wind, Sootpaw felt nothing. The snow underfoot did not numb her pads, nor did it prick at her nose and nip at her ears. There was nothing to be felt, except an empty, hollow cold.

She crested the last hill that overlooked the camp. Her first instinct was to run down towards the camp, to shout that she’d returned- but then she looked again. Cats milled about the camp, kits batted clumps of snow back and forth; in the distance, the apprentice could just make out a couple of patrols searching for rabbits. It was life as usual.

Her ears and tail sagged. Sootpaw didn’t expect the sun and moon to stop for her, but she could feel jealousy tightening around her throat with every passing heartbeat. The mounds where she and Ivypaw were buried was still visible, despite another fresh layer of snow- and around them, the tracks of their Clanmates as they went about their duties.  

Sootpaw surveyed the camp one more time. Her heart seized as her green gaze locked with another- Paleleaf. Her ears pricked expectantly. _Does she see me?_ Blind hope lead her thoughts astray. As a medicine cat, it would make sense that Paleleaf could see the dead. Then again, did she count as a StarClan cat, if Ivypaw only gained stars in her fur after touching the Moonpool…?

The feeling quickly faded as the WindClan medicine cat turned away, distracted by another cat approaching her. Sootpaw didn’t need to see the other cat’s face to tell who it was. That grey pelt was too familiar, the fur shaggy in some places, the curve of the warrior’s tail interrupted by a slight kink in the end. Eleven moons seemed like such a long time when she was alive. Now, seeing her mother’s shoulders slumped in defeat made her realize with a sinking feeling that eleven moons was not even a full turn of seasons with her. Now, without Sootpaw, without any other kits to speak of, without even her mate- Cinderflower had no one.

This was her fault.

The hollowness that was eating away at her widened, gaping in her chest. She parted her jaw and, despite her dry throat, spoke the first words since her last conversation with Ivypaw.

“I’m sorry, Cinderflower.”

There was so much more she wanted to fit in those few words, but her throat swelled and she couldn’t force more out. She missed her. She loved her. She didn’t mean to leave her all alone.

She turned away from the camp.

*     *     *

Wandering would be her new norm, Sootpaw quickly realized, as she took the long route away from camp to avoid an incoming patrol bearing prey. But there was only so much she could wander her own territory before she grew bored, and sooner rather than later she found herself at the marshes just north of Horseplace- and beyond that, RiverClan territory. Sootpaw perched on a boulder that lay just at the scent markers as if on lookout, black tail curling around her paws.

The thought of crossing the WindClan border was not one she took lightly. Even though she knew they wouldn’t see her (let alone know she was there), Sootpaw couldn’t bring herself to budge. Murkstar had expressly forbidden apprentices from the marshes, lest they run into a RiverClan warrior taking advantage of the neutral territory- or worse, accidentally run straight into enemy territory.

But if WindClan was already struggling with the heavy snowfall this leafbare- if StarClan could barely manage, with the frozen Moonpool- where did that leave RiverClan, with their reliance on the streams and the lake for their fish?

It was enough to convince her to move forward. _Just to the edge of the marsh,_ she promised herself _, no further_.

The marsh was as unwelcoming as the moors, the mud frozen in awkward clumps, the reeds jutting out of the ground to obscure her vision. The plants didn’t move as she padded through, but she did her best to weave around them regardless. Each one that phased through her paw was a glaring reminder of her death.

Her nostrils flared at the sudden overwhelming scent of fish, followed by a rustling as the reeds ahead of her bent and snapped. A vole scrambled over the mud past her foot. Sootpaw leapt to the side just as a streak of ginger barreled through. Her head whipped around- a RiverClan warrior ran past, skinny form disappearing further into the reeds as he scrambled after the rodent.

 _Surely RiverClan has always hunted land prey, too,_ Sootpaw thought. But there was something desperate in his chase that left her pads itching with unease.

The reeds shuddered once more, then stopped. Sootpaw glanced back over her shoulder, hoping for a triumphant meow, or the sound of the warrior burying his fresh-kill- but there was nothing but silence. It was the silence of leafbare that she was quickly learning to loathe: from the muted paw steps on the snow to the absence of bird song; from the way everyone ignored her to the way StarClan stared at her wordlessly from under the ice.   

She pressed ahead, a renewed sense of urgency driving her to dart through the reeds in opposite direction of the RiverClanner. It was not more than a minute later when she reached the border. The stench fresh from a recent patrol; every instinct told her to back away. But, for better or worse, a morbid curiosity had overtaken her. She had to know how the neighboring Clan was doing.

The first step over the invisible line was the hardest, and Sootpaw paused for a moment, ears pricked, whiskers twitching. When nothing happened, she took another step. And another. And another. Soon she was trotting along as naturally as she would on her own territory. She was surprised to see how similar RiverClan’s territory was to her own, rolling hills dotted with the occasional tree and shrub. The only real difference was the streams and rivers that laced along the ground… and, to her slowly mounting horror, the surface of each was still, sunlight glinting on the icy sheen.

The dreaded silence was pierced by a high-pitched wail. Sootpaw bolted forward. The cry was enough to give her direction, and the frozen rivers granted her easy passage into the heart of RiverClan’s camp. Tangles of reeds and snow-covered shrubs in a loose circle made up the dens. A crowd of cats gathered around one, dipping their heads one by one as whispers passed between them. The faint sound of mewls and kit’s cries made it clear that this was the nursery- though the usual smell of milk was tainted with blood.

One cat sat away from the crowd- a pretty brown tabby with her fluffy tail wrapped neatly around her paws. As Sootpaw drew closer to the nursery, the other warrior’s nose twitched and she leapt to her feet. “ _What_ are you doing in RiverClan ca-” her snarl was cut short as the apprentice’s ears snapped back against her skull. “Oh. Oh, you’re like me- I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to snap. Old habits, you know.” She gave a quiet half-laugh, clearly embarrassed. “You’re the only one who’s acknowledged me, so far.”

Sootpaw’s ears relaxed, but her shoulders remained coiled with tension. “… Then you know already. What happened to you.”

The older she-cat nodded. “To be honest, neither I nor Redwhisker- our medicine cat- thought I would survive the birth. I was so sick all the time, I could hardly move. And then the labor started, and I could hardly call for help- Roseheart went to fetch him- and… that’s all I remember.” Sootpaw looked down at her paws. She had been taken from her mother- and now a queen, taken from her newborn kits.

“My name is Alderface, by the way, but I’m sure you knew that. Although- and I don’t mean to pry- why would StarClan send a WindClan cat to come get me? I would’ve expected someone from my own Clan.”

The apprentice looked up, but couldn’t look her in the eye. Instead, she stared past her at the crowd of cats. They were starting to disperse, grief dripping off of their whiskers. “My name is Sootpaw,” she started. It was easier than starting with the truth, but the queen deserved to know. She took a breath to steady herself. “StarClan didn’t send me. The Moonpool is frozen over.” Out of the corner of her eye, she could see Alderface’s expression cloud with confusion and concern- the same concern she’d seen in Ivypaw’s face not a full day ago.  “Don’t worry, we can still get to StarClan- we just have to go to the Moonpool directly.”

Alderface was silent for a long moment. When Sootpaw finally worked up the courage to look at her, her eyes were closed and she seemed almost serene. At peace. The black she-cat thought to give her some space and privacy- but before she could move, the RiverClanner spoke again. “Could I see them once, before we go?”

Sootpaw tilted her head. She asked the question so innocently. It shouldn’t have been a question at all. “Of course. I’m not here to tell you what to do. Take as much time as you need.”

Alderface nodded gratefully and padded forward, disappearing into the den where faint mewls were still ringing out. Sootpaw sat, expecting to wait on the queen well into the night- but she returned just a few moments later, padding out of the den and passing a large ginger tabby tom with a mouthful of herbs on his way in.  “They’re beautiful. Everything I ever wanted.” Her voice cracked as she spoke. “And they’re healthy. Redwhisker will make sure they stay that way, and my sister will help raise them. They’re in good paws.”

No words came to mind that could comfort the queen- but the RiverClanner nodded towards the camp entrance, and they departed side by side.

*     *     *

The long trip back to the Moonstone seemed short, as Alderface and Sootpaw swapped stories as they walked. The RiverClan queen told stories of her own kithood, chasing minnows in the shallow pools and trying to lift a fish twice as big as she was off the fresh-kill pile, and of how she hoped her kits would share the same experiences. In turn, the WindClanner told her about chasing rabbits across the moors and watching the stars rise and set every night- and eventually, how she and Ivypaw died, alone and confused and left to fend for themselves, and how Sootpaw resolved to not let that happen to anyone else.  The last story earned her a strong comforting lick between the ears, one that made Sootpaw miss Cinderflower all the more.

At last they crossed the last few stepping stones, revealing the icy Moonpool glittering in the faint evening light. Sootpaw paused before the pool, reluctant to approach it herself. “Here we are. All you have to do it touch your nose to the surface, and you will join StarClan.”

Alderface gazed into the pool, her expression soft and warm. “I’ll be able to look over my kits now, from among the stars. Thank you.”

The apprentice didn’t know how Alderface stayed so calm throughout the ordeal. Dying was terrifying- leaving your loved ones was terrifying. She couldn’t imagine having to leave kits behind after their first few heartbeats of life... and yet, the queen took it in stride. It was as if she knew everything would be alright, even in the face of an uncertain future for her kin.

“Your faith is beautiful, Alderface.”

The queen purred in amusement. “And here I thought it was WindClan cats who were closest to StarClan. But no,” she sighed. “My death was not unexpected, and so we planned for it, just in case. I trust my mate and my sister and my medicine cat. And I trust that there are good cats out there- cats like _you_ , Sootpaw.”  The apprentice blinked. “You didn’t have to come back- not for your Clanmates, and certainly not for any other Clan. But you did.”

Sootpaw shuffled her paws, unsure of how to accept the compliment graciously. She finally settled on a simple, mumbled thanks.

“You’re a kind soul, Sootpaw. Anyone would be happy to have you as a guide- and as you look out for them, I’ll look out for you, too.” With that, Alderface touched her nose to the ice- and her spirit joined StarClan, her image silently shimmering with stars under the ice.


End file.
